Folks,
The more I study these William (Cato's) Cater's the more confused I
get, both in SC and NC. and also in Ga. The census records of William
in Edgefield and in Orangeburg-Barnwell look like possibly the same
man and apparently the William of Orangeburg- Barnwell had land in
Edgefield --- so did his son. [This points to one man.] However the
writer to Harold Cox said "in 1982 I carried on an extensive
correspondence with (write Bonnie for name and address), who claimed
descent from a William Cater born c. 1753 Edgefield Dist., SC, died
1835 Monroe Co., Ala; my conclusion was he belongs to a Cater family
of Sumter Dist, SC which probably came down from Va. (his wife
Catherine Collins was recorded as having been born in Va.). William's
grandson Douglas John Cater (3/27/1841 Sparta, Ala.--- 11/23/1931 San
Antonio) left an account of his activities during the Civil War."
[This points to two men. in Edgefield and also in Monroe Co.] A wife
named Catherine Collins also points to two men. However the 1830
census of Monroe Co., Ala. has only one William Cato, a man born 1760-
70. This would be William Cato, son of Henry Cato, who married Sarah
Massey. BONNIE , DO YOU HAVE THE ADDRESS OF THE MAN WHO SAID HE WAS A
DESCENDANT OF WILLIAM CATO AND CATHERINE COLLINS ?
This is not all of the confusion that comes from this letter. Notice
that he says, writing about the children of William Cater of Barnwell
Co., that "2. Benjamin (c. 1777- ) had 340 acre grant on McTear's
Ck, waters of the South Edisto, 17 May 1810, the same day that his
father had the 1000 acre grant in the same neigborhood; his name does
not appear in the Barnwell records or censuses. My opinion is that he
is the father of your Joseph Cater, b. 1795 as well as the William
Cater who went to Vanderburgh Co., Ind."
However a descendant of James Cato (Cater) who married an Eleanor and
died in Newberry Co., SC leaving a debt of 22 pounds sterling wrote
that William of Vanderburgh Co. was a child of Eleanor and James
Cater. She wrote that there were two Cater families in SC, up
country and down county. She thought her family was up country and
came from NC. However she did say that she was not of the Cato family
with the name Sterling prominently in it. She went on to say that
James' will did not name the children but one of the payment receipts
did mention William's name. It read "Item received of Eleanor Cater
by the hand of William Cater 4 pounds 9 shillings and 2 pence in full
of the above account by me, signed Levi Casey" Subsequently the
family moved to Warren Co., Ky where William married Jenette Starrett
and the daughter Eleanor married Lewis Williams. Later they moved to
Posey and Vanderburgh Counties, Ind. The son Joseph Cater married
Jemima Williams in Posey Co. in 1817. Their daughter Melissa who
married a Cox was her gr. gr. grandmother.
Since the James and Eleanor family hold on to the spelling Cater, it
may be that they are mistaken when they say that they are not of the
low country Caters. Newberry Co. joins Edgefield and Orangeburgh
Counties and it may be that James is a part of the low country SC
family. Both writers seem to claim the William Cater of Vanderburgh
Co., Ind. as their own. On the other hand it may be she is right that
the up country Caters are from NC and are not a part of the Cato
family with the name Sterling. I am reminded of the James Cato in
Bertie Co., NC in the early 1700's. We have not yet decided if his
family is a part of what we are researching. Also this might mean
that the family of Stephen may not be a part of the family even
though they have a George and a John in the family.
Anyway there is enough discrepancies in this Cater data for me to
consider its information as suspect and that the research data will
have to be found and studied carefully.
Henry Brackin